


Everybody Dies

by GriffinRose



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Crushed to death, Dark, Death, Drowning, Explosions, Gen, Hanging, Hurt No Comfort, I Made Myself Cry, Not Beta Read, Not Happy, Sad, Sad Ending, Seriously not a happy time ahead, Sorry Not Sorry, Suicide, suicide idealation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 15:18:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10165808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GriffinRose/pseuds/GriffinRose
Summary: Haha you think I'm kidding but that's literally what happens. I got this thought in my head of how ironic would it be if they all died in their elements, and hey, here we are almost 7,000 words later.So, if you like crying and torturing yourself, enjoy! But if you for some reason don't enjoy having your heart stomped on, put in a blender, and then set on fire, I'd suggest moving on.(And mind the tags! I don't want to accidentally trigger anyone with this!)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hoooo boi you actually came to read this angst-fest. I'll have you know that I cried like five times while writing this. This is also not proofread because I wasn't about to put myself through that kind of torture.

 

_There’s a secret deep within Voltron, an old edict darker than space itself. At any one time, there is only one team fit to form Voltron. As soon as one of those five people is gone, the rest must be disposed of so a new team can step forward. In this way, Voltron is always at its strongest._

 

 

 

They lost Lance first.

 

They’d been answering a distress call on the planet Zyokba. It was a mountainous planet with deep lakes nestled in the valleys, and the people were like horse-like from the waist down, but monkey-like from the waist up.

 

“There’s a group of civilians hiding in a cave on that peak over there,” Shiro said, highlighting the mountain he spoke about on the map depicted in each of their lions.

 

“And there’s a troop of Galra heading right for them!” Keith said.

 

“I’m closest, I’ll go!” Lance said, adjusting his flight path by a few degrees to make it in time.

 

“Be careful!” Shiro said. “The rest of you, let’s take out these ships!”

 

Lance let the battle fade out of his mind. He had his own mission right now. Those horse-monkey people needed him.

 

He found the cave Shiro had mentioned easily enough, and he found the troop of Galra creeping up on them. A few quick blasts from Blue took care of them.

 

Lance landed Blue and ran out, ducking into the cave. “Hey, everyone okay in here?” he asked.

 

The monkey people shied away, stamping their hooves on the floor.

 

“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you,” Lance said. “I’m one of the good guys. I wanted to make sure no one is hurt.”

 

One of them shook their head. “Is it safe to come out?”

 

“Ah, probably not,” Lance said, glancing back at the sky. Explosions kept dotting the sky like fireworks, metal and ash raining down like some twisted storm. “If you’re all good here, though, I’m going to go join my friends up there. I’ll come back when it’s safe to let you know it’s over.”

 

He ran back out of the cave. Blue had her particle barrier up, because they were in battle, but it started peeling away as he got close.

 

The only warning he got was a brief flash of panic from Blue, and then something tackled him from behind and knocked him over the side of the mountain.

 

“Wha-hey!” he cried. He only saw brief flashes of Galra armor as they tumbled.

 

“Lance? What’s wrong?” Hunk asked.

 

“Missed- _OW-_ one,” he grunted. He’d landed on a particularly painful rock as he tumbled.

 

“Do you need backup?” Shiro asked.

 

Lance would have replied if the next rock hadn’t dug into his neck and pried his helmet off. That was a painful experience. He never wanted to experience that again.

 

They tumbled right into one of the lakes, and after the immediate disorientation of _holy Quiznak I’m underwater and it’s freezing_ Lance realized the Galra soldier was still trying to fight him. They kept sinking while grappling with each other, and the back of Lance’s mind wondered if the water here was different than on Earth, if this kind of water sucked you down like quicksand.

 

It could also be that the Galra seemed intent on dragging him further down, killing both of them in some kind of kamikaze move.

 

Well, joke was on the Galra because Lance was practically born swimming. He could hold his breath for ever. Now if he could just get the guy to let go of him…

 

Blue was panicking in his mind. She didn’t know what to do. It was too narrow for her to dive down without bringing half the mountain with her, and that would only crush Lance and be very counter-productive to the whole ‘saving him’ thing.

 

_Finally_ the Galra’s hold loosened on him. Lance kicked him away and followed the trail of bubbles to the surface; the Galra kept sinking, limp and unmoving. Man, he couldn’t believe a soldier had been willing to _drown_ just to try and kill him, drowning was an awful way to go.

 

The surface looked a lot farther than he expected it to be. Had they really sunk that deep? Just how far down did this lake go, anyway? Didn’t matter, he was the champion of his siblings for holding his breath the longest, he could do this. Plus, he had a jetpack to give him a boost.

 

It only sputtered when he tried to activate it, no doubt damaged in the nasty tumble down the entire freaking mountain. _Great_.

 

His chest was starting to hurt, and the desire to just open his mouth and breathe was strong. But he couldn’t, not yet, he had to make it to the surface, it wasn’t that much farther…

 

_Quiznak_ he really had been dragged down deep. The surface was really far away. He’d already been holding his breath for a long time, and he hadn’t even taken the big of a breath before ending up underwater. It didn’t matter. He could do this.

 

Blue wailed in his mind.

 

He could do this. It wasn’t that far, not really. He didn’t need to breathe right now. Breathing was overrated. He’d never liked it anyway.

 

_Goddamn_ _was he even moving at all_? It felt like the surface kept getting farther. His chest _ached_. He wanted to breathe so badly, just one quick little breath, that was all…

 

_No, don’t open your mouth!_ _Don’t do it! If you do it you’ll die!_

 

He knew he shouldn’t, he knew he just needed to hold out for a few more ticks, just a few more and then he could breathe real air, but he couldn’t help it. It felt like his lungs exploded and he had to open his mouth and suck in air, he had to, even if there was no air around him.

 

The water burned going down his throat, and his lungs cried out at the decidedly-not-air they were trying to breathe, but their attempts to cough it back up were a little pointless.

 

He just needed to get to the surface. He could still do that while drowning and trying not to panic, right? Piece of cake.

 

But which way was up? You just followed the bubbles right? There, the bubbles coming out of his mouth, he just had to follow them. Just…one arm and then the other, and kick his feet.

 

How did his limbs work again? He could move them before…

 

His head hurt. But the bubbles were pretty, at least, and fun to watch. At least until the trail ended, anyway. He watched the last of the bubbles disappear out of sight while he fell back, sinking once more, limp and unmoving just like the Galra had.

 

Blue wailed and shrieked in his mind.

 

What could she be upset about? He was in water. Water was his element. Water would never hurt him. That was his thing. He’d lived in water all his life, except for those few years at the Garrison and in space. Water was safety.

 

He closed his eyes and let his mind drift until there was nothing but black around him.

 

Xx

 

Losing Lance had been a terrible reality check. After it happened, the Blue Lion went silent and raised her particle barrier, and it wouldn’t lower for anything. Hunk had towed it back to the castle ship in yellow, sobbing the whole time and letting Yellow do most of the work.

 

Shiro had been the one to bring Lance’s body. He’d been the one to dive in after Lance, too, and bring up the corpse. They’d tried CPR of course, but Lance’s lips had already been blue and it was too late. His heart had stopped and there was nothing to revive.

 

None of them were alright after that. They slept together in a sobbing mess in Shiro’s room, even Keith. Lance’s body was put in one of the chambers in the lower levels of the ship while they decided if they would hold a funeral here in space, take him back to Earth, or whatever. No one could think about it right then. It was still too fresh, too real.

 

Allura steered the ship to a quiet galaxy. They needed a few days, after that, even her. They didn’t even see her for the first few days, not until Coran forced everyone to socialize and try to act normal. 

 

It didn’t do a lot of good, but Coran had a whole plan for lifting everyone’s spirits up. It was just a shame he never got to use it.

 

A week and a half after Lance, they lost Pidge.

 

The only reason they had left their little galaxy was because of another distress call, the swamp planet of Micholse in the throes of an open rebellion with the Galra.

 

They weren’t ready to get back into battle, not by a long shot. They shouldn’t have responded to the call. But it was only a system away and they were the defenders of the universe, and maybe they all had a little bit of revenge on their minds.

 

The Galra were going to fucking _pay_.

 

The team hadn’t wanted to split up when they landed, but there were only four of them now and they need to be in too many places at once, so they’d split up but agreed to keep the comms on at all times. Pidge went to the Galra ship and tried to hack it before it inevitably took off to fight them from the sky. The mission was a success, and she’d almost been home free, if not for the commander that had come chasing after her.

 

“Oh shit shit shit quiznaking shit,” Pidge muttered, racing for the trees. The ground was too wet and mushy for her to stand a chance running on the ground, so she’d have to jump through the branches until she made it back to her lion.

 

But this commander had a _gun_ and that made everything more complicated. Purple lasers kept flying past her, just barely missing.

 

“What’s wrong?” Shiro asked.

 

“Commander, gun, too far from my lion!” Pidge said. Oh, man, she needed to hit the training deck more, she should not be this winded already, even if she was pretty terrified.

 

“I’m on my way!” Keith said.

 

A blast flew past her and startled some kind of alien bird, and Pidge had to adjust her course to avoid the thing as it decided to chase after her to. At least the jetpacks made it easy to jump from branch to branch, and she wasn’t that worried about falling. Besides, even if she did, there were plenty of vines to grab on the way down. She’d be fine.

 

You know, assuming she didn’t get shot first.

 

“Make it fast!” Pidge said. She pulled out her bayard and slashed a few of the branches as she went, hoping to make it harder for the commander to follow her.

 

The amount of blaster fire following her dramatically decreased, so she assumed she had.

 

She turned her path back towards her lion. The bird thing seemed to have given up interest, and Pidge had put a lot of distance between her and the commander.

 

“I think I’m okay now,” she relayed over the comms.

 

“Still on my way,” Keith stated gruffly. She couldn’t blame him. She would want confirmation that her teammates were okay too if they had previously said they were in trouble.

 

A laser flew past her, dangerously close to her head, and before she could freak out about it another blast hit her jetpack. While not painful, it did mess up her balance and send her crashing to the ground.

 

Thankfully, the vines were everywhere on this planet, so, like she’d assumed, she was able to use them to stop her fall. Not like she’d assumed, she hadn’t caught herself so much as they had caught her, like a fly in a spider-web. She was tangled up in them, barely able to move.

 

Her heartbeat picked back up again. “Shit shit shit shit shit,” she muttered. She hacked away at the vines. That commander couldn’t be too far, he was catching up, she didn’t want to fight him alone, not in this kind of terrain with her jetpack out of commission.

 

“What happened?” Hunk demanded.

 

“Just a little stuck,” Pidge said.

 

“I’m almost there, hang on!” Keith said.

 

“Not funny,” Pidge muttered. She slashed through a few more vines and felt something start to give. _Finally_ , she’d be free in a minute, she just needed to cut the right one.

 

The thing about vines is, it’s really hard to tell which ones are loose and which ones are just hanging, and even harder to tell which ones are going to wrap around your neck the second you start free-falling through them.

 

The sad thing? _Tarzan_ had been one of her favorite movies as a kid. She should have seen this coming. But she’d been panicking and rushing and just trying to get free, and that was a _movie, dammit, it wasn’t real_ , so she hadn’t been thinking, just slashing, and that was how a _bad guy_ died, she was one of the good guys, the good guys didn’t die, not in dumb stupid ways like this.

 

All the same, there was a vine caught around her neck and she was falling and she didn’t have time to get free, and she hated how smart she was because her stupid brain was able to calculate exactly what was happening in the two ticks she was falling, and she was able to calculate exactly what her chance of survival was, and she’d always been a realist, but _she couldn’t die here, not when she hadn’t found her family._ She couldn’t do that to her poor mother, this wasn’t fair.

 

But the vine was still tightening around her throat and she couldn’t tell if she actually couldn’t breathe or if she’d just stopped because of shock, and really it didn’t matter, she was dead either way.

 

The last thing Pidge saw was a flash of red and Keith’s terrified face; the last thing she heard was him _shrieking_ her name, “ _PIDGE!”_

 

The last thing she felt was her neck snapping as the vine finally went taut.  

 

Xx

 

Keith was never the same after they lost Pidge. He’d gone ballistic on the commander who’d been chasing her, slashing him up into pieces before turning back to Pidge. It had been him who’d cut her body down and carried her back to the ship.

 

It had taken Coran sedating him for them to get him to let go so they could put her in a preservation tank next to Lance. After Keith woke up again, he was never far from Hunk or Shiro, like some kind of second shadow.

 

He was as quiet as a shadow, too. He only spoke on the rare occasions grunts, shrugging, and vague hand gestures weren’t enough to say what he wanted.

 

Hunk couldn’t blame him. He didn’t feel much like talking either. He didn’t mind having Keith glued to his side during the day, or having Keith practically on top of him when they slept because Keith needed to hear someone else’s heartbeat, needed to _know_ that his teammates were still alive. If he wasn’t attached to Hunk, he was attached to Shiro.

 

In a way, it was almost surprising Keith wasn’t the third one they lost. No, Hunk met his demise two weeks after Pidge, three and a half weeks after Lance.

 

It had been a rescue operation. The Molaskews were an underground people, living in a system of mines and tunnels. They’d survived the Galra empire for centuries just because the Galra hadn’t even known they were _there_. They were self-sufficient, everything they needed growing underground.

 

That didn’t mean their way of life was perfect; one too many tunnels, and their entire civilization was about to come down on top of them. They’d sent out a distress call asking for help evacuating.

 

Of course Voltron responded.

 

And of course, when a little kid got caught inbetween some shifting rocks, and the tiny Molaskews couldn’t get him out, Hunk ran out of his too-big lion without a second thought.

 

“Okay, I’m here, everyone calm down,” Hunk said. He had to stoop to fit in their tunnels, and only Yellow’s glowing eyes provided any light from behind him. But he could still see the rocks trapping the kid. “Alright, we can do this, easy-peasy.”

 

The kid’s parents were crying hysterically, holding his hand and pleading with Hunk to save him. The ground trembled under Hunk’s feet.

 

“Be careful there, Hunk,” Shiro said. “We don’t know how much longer this is going to hold up.”

 

“Yeah, I know,” Hunk said. “This shouldn’t take long.”

 

And it wouldn’t. He just had to move a few rocks. They weren’t even that big to him, it was just that these people were smaller than Arusians, so a rock the size of his fist was the size of their heads. The only reason Hunk could fit in this tunnel at all was because it was some kind of grand entrance hall, meant to be impressive for visitors. The tunnels they actually lived in were half this size, and Hunk would never stand a chance at fitting in them. Even if they weren’t all about to collapse.

 

“Alright, here we go,” Hunk said. He got down on one knee and carefully started pulling rocks off the top of the pile, discarding them to the side.

 

The ground trembled again, deep cracks spreading out around them and climbing up the walls. He wasn’t that deep underground, but if the floor gave out there was no telling how far he’d fall and how much would end up on top of him. And while their suits were made to protect them against the pressure of space, he had a feeling getting crushed under a pile of rocks _might_ be pushing it.

 

He didn’t want to die, not like Lance and Pidge. He didn’t want his body to be _preserved_ in some alien tube, stuck in space for who knew how long, an eternal reminder for his poor remaining teammates. He didn’t want to leave Keith and Shiro on their own. Keith was already so broken…losing Hunk might push him over the edge, especially because Shiro had grown more distant since losing Pidge. The two of them might not survive losing Hunk.

 

Yellow grumbled in his mind, asking him to hurry up.

 

“I’m going as fast as I can, sheesh,” Hunk muttered. The trembling started up again, and a few more rocks were starting to drop from the ceiling. He pulled off the last of the mess on the kid, and the kid’s parents grabbed him into their arms. “Okay, good, now run!”

 

The trembling hadn’t stopped, and the parents didn’t need to be told twice. Hunk was going to follow them, he had every intention of getting out of this alive. He’d been in worse situations; the Balmera definitely felt worse, and there was that time the goo machine had turned on them. This didn’t seem that bad in comparison. He was just trying to race a collapsing underground tunnel system and make it back to his lion in one piece. Not that bad.

 

But the tunnel finally gave out around him; his foot went through the floor, and his body followed with a shriek. A lot of the tunnels under him weren’t structurally sound, so the weight of his falling body was enough to collapse them as he fell, and he picked up quite the entourage of rocks as he went. He tried using his jetpack, but there were too many falling rocks. He just kept hitting his head.

 

Landing was worse. Landing hurt, a lot. He was pretty sure he broke at least his ankle just in that, but then all those rocks fell on top of him. And maybe, if it had just been one or two, he would have been okay. The armor was pretty strong, after all. But it was dozens more than that, all piling on top of him, and his armor cracked, and his ribs hurt, and he couldn’t _see_ , it was so dark, and everything hurt, and now he couldn’t _breathe_ because his ribs had finally given way, and he’d tried to protect his head, but all he’d done was squish his head between his arms and the rocks were crushing his arms and he was coughing up blood. He could hear Shiro and even Keith yelling through the comms, asking if he was okay.

 

He didn’t want to die. He really, so did not want to die. He was only eighteen. He wanted to see his family again. He wanted to save the universe. _He didn’t want to die_.

 

But some things were out of his control.

 

Xx

 

If Shiro had thought Keith was clingy before, that was _nothing_ to how Keith was now. Keith only ever left his side if he was going to the bathroom or taking a shower. He just…couldn’t handle being alone, anymore. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw their bodies, felt Pidge’s weight in his arms. He had to stay next to Shiro, had to make sure Shiro was still breathing, because if he let Shiro out of his sight who knew what would happen?

 

None of them should have died. It didn’t make sense. _He_ was the impulsive one, the reckless one, the one who acted like his own life didn’t matter. How could it be that he was still alive when they were all dead? None of them should be dead. He didn’t want any of them to be dead. He wanted all of them to wake up and just walk out of those stupid preservation tubes.

 

At least for Lance and Pidge, he could pretend they were just sleeping. They were too pale, and Pidge’s head didn’t sit exactly right on her shoulders anymore, but those were ignorable. They still looked like they could just wake up any day now.

 

But Hunk…

 

They kept a blanket around Hunk’s tube. None of them wanted to remember him that way.

 

The fight against Zarkon had been put on hold. They’d barely stood a chance with all five paladins; the thought of going up against him now was laughable.

 

It was the only thing they had to laugh about.

 

Allura and Coran tried to be there for Shiro and Keith, and the mice even tried to cheer them up most days. But they didn’t _understand_. They didn’t know what it was like to have a mental connection with them and then have it torn away. Shiro and Keith hadn’t just lost good comrades or even part of their family, they’d lost part of themselves.

 

They’d barely laughed since losing Lance. Their determination had wavered when they lost Pidge. It was practically obliterated since they lost Hunk, and they couldn’t bring it in themselves to care about all the people they could be saving either.

 

It all just felt…pointless. Keith didn’t want to save the damn universe anymore. What had the universe ever done for him, besides take away everything he ever cared about? The universe could go screw itself.

 

Shiro felt much the same, but Allura and Coran were still dedicated to the fight. They gave Keith and Shiro two weeks to mourn, and then they started talking about finding replacements for the other paladins.

 

Keith had thrown his plate at the princess’s head and stormed out, Shiro on his heels because Shiro hated having Keith out of his sight, too.

 

Regardless of their personal feelings on the matter, when they made a supply run on the planet Ruyclux and were invited to an alliance negotiation, Allura couldn’t say no. To honor Ruyclux’s more formal culture, they broke out their nice paladin suits.

 

Keith hated them now, hated the colors he had to wear and the colors that were supposed to be next to him but were missing. He felt like he was playing pretend. They clearly could not save the universe, so what the hell were they doing?

 

The meeting was long and boring, and Keith wasn’t even paying attention to most of it. He’d never been involved in negotiations before; he didn’t have the patience for it. He understood why he had to be there, and Shiro was trying to fake it for the Princess’s sake so he had wanted to go, which meant Keith had to go.

 

But they’d been sitting there for three hours now and hadn’t made any progress. Apparently this president only wanted an alliance with Voltron because of some civil war on the planet, and he wanted Voltron to blow the other side to smithereens. Allura was naturally against this, but they still needed more food and a few mechanical pieces for the ship, so she was trying to work something else out.

 

Neither side was willing to budge, which was unfortunate because Keith really needed the bathroom and things didn’t look like they’d be ending anytime soon.

 

Shiro had started to give him looks, too, meaning he’d noticed Keith getting antsy. It was probably better just to leave now and get it over with. The meeting clearly wasn’t going anywhere, after all.

 

So Keith into Shiro’s ear, muttered “Bathroom,” and quietly snuck out of the room. He wouldn’t be five minutes. Shiro would be fine. They weren’t in danger. There was no Galra here, the mansion like building they were in wasn’t structurally unsound, and Shiro was sitting down. Nothing was going to happen. He’d only be gone five minutes.

 

That didn’t stop his heart from racing the whole time he did his business, and he was naturally paranoid of everyone he passed.

 

Except, the shifty guy going around the corner with a giant bundle in his arms and looking over his shoulder might actually be a real reason to be concerned.

 

Keith glanced between the door to the meeting and where the guy had disappeared. It probably wasn’t anything serious, was even less likely something he should get involved in. But…all the same…he needed to know what the guy was up to. He needed to know if this guy was a threat.

 

So he followed him, creeping carefully after him and ducking into corners and open doorways when the guy glanced back. Definitely suspicious, definitely up to no good. Keith rested a hand against his bayard, neatly tucked away in the back of his shirt. This suit had one good feature to it, at least.

 

They went down a flight of stairs and seemed to take the same path in reverse, and Keith was starting to get a pretty good idea of where they were going. If they were still on the floor they’d started on, then the room they walked into would be the one where the meeting was currently taking place.

 

The guy placed the device he’d been carrying in the center of the room, glancing up at the ceiling as if he was lining it up with something.

 

Keith made his entrance, bayard drawn and activated. “What the Quiznak do you think you’re doing?”

 

The guy jumped, but he rushed to push a few buttons. “You’re too late. This place is about to go sky high, and it’s going to take that tyrant with it!”

 

Bomb. The guy had just planted a freaking _bomb_ right under the room Shiro was in.

 

Keith snarled and lunged. The infiltrator pulled out his own blade, but he wasn’t nearly as skilled as Keith and didn’t have nearly as strong a motivation to fight. In just a few quick blows, Keith had disarmed him and slammed his sword through the guy all the way to the hilt. He deactivated the bayard without pulling it out, letting the guy fall to the floor as he turned to the bomb. Some kind of countdown was on it, but he didn’t know the numbers ticking away. Stupid alien languages.

 

He didn’t stand a prayer of deactivating the bomb. The only thing he could do was carry it out of here before it went off and hope he had enough time to escape. At the very least, he needed to make sure this bomb was far away from Shiro before it went off.

 

He grabbed the device and ran. He didn’t know how much time he had, but it had to be enough. He had to get it away. He had to protect Shiro. Shiro was all he had left, he couldn’t lose him.

 

He’d only made it back to the stairwell and decided he would just throw it out a window, _to hell with it_ , when he ran out of time and his world erupted into flames.

 

Xx

 

Shiro knew Keith had been gone too long. He’d just gone to the bathroom, but he’d been gone for almost ten minutes now. That wasn’t like him. Keith never strayed too far from his side. Neither of them liked being apart.

 

Then there was a loud _BOOM!_ and the building shook, ceiling tiles crashing to the table and dust raining down around them. He felt his heart drop to his feet.

 

Everyone else was screaming, yelling “What was that?” but all Shiro wanted to know was where was Keith?

 

He was the first out of the room. He had to find Keith, he had to know he was okay. It was happening all over again and he couldn’t stop it and he needed Keith.

 

Half the building was gone. Shiro ran out into the hall and just stopped. Half of this floor alone was just missing, the floor giving way to open air. Flames licked at the edges, and he noted dully that the flames were creeping towards him. He could make out part of the stairwell, the part that apparently hadn’t crumbled in the explosion.

 

“Where’s Keith?” Allura asked, coming up next to him.

 

Shiro shook his head, panic seizing his throat.

 

Allura put a hand on his shoulder. “Then let’s find him.”

 

It helped, having someone else in charge, someone else to tell him what to do when it felt like the world had gone out from under his feet.

 

Allura stepped closer to the disaster, cupping her hands around her mouth. “Keith!”

 

Shiro couldn’t bring himself to say anything yet. He wanted to Keith to run in from the other direction, unharmed and ready to kill to protect Shiro. He wanted Keith to be next to him, completely and totally safe.

 

But no red paladin came running to make sure Shiro was okay. And Shiro knew, _he knew_ , why that was, even if he couldn’t bring himself to admit it to himself.

 

Keith had been gone too long.

 

Some staff from the mansion were working on putting out the flames. They were the ones who found him and directed Allura and Shiro’s attention to where he lay, half buried under a pile of rubble. His suit was in tatters, his right arm burned to a black crisp. Third degree burns littered the rest of his body, and the right side of his face was a blistered and bloody mess. Some of his hair had been singed off.

 

But when Allura and Shiro pushed the debris off him, he coughed and his eyelids fluttered open.

 

_He was still alive_.

 

“Keith?! Keith, can you hear me?” Shiro asked, dropping next to him and gently turning him onto his back.

 

“Sh’ro?” Keith coughed out. He couldn’t open his eyes more than halfway, and he lifted his left hand, searching.

 

Shiro grabbed onto that hand like it was a lifeline. “I’m here, you’re going to be fine,” Shiro said. Keith was still alive, and Shiro was going to _keep_ it that way, damn it.

 

“Coran’s bringing a pod and some medical supplies,” Allura said. “I’ll start clearing a path for him.”

 

Neither of them even noticed Allura leaving.

 

Keith’s eyes drooped shut again.

 

“Hey, no, stay awake,” Shiro said, reaching out with one hand to softly pat Keith’s cheek. “You have to stay awake.” His voice choked on sobs he was barely repressing.

 

Keith opened his eyes, barely. “D’ya think…you think there’s a space afterlife?” he breathed. His voice was hardly above a whisper. “You think…the others are waiting for us?”

 

Shiro bit his lip and let the tears roll down his cheek. “Yeah, I’m sure they are buddy.”

 

Keith smiled. “Missed them.”

 

Maybe his grip was a little too tight on Keith’s hand, and maybe Keith looked a little blurry through all the tears, but he only gripped tighter and lowered his forehead to rest on top of Keith’s hand. “Don’t die, Keith, _please_. Just hang on. Coran’s on the way, we’ll get you in a pod. You’ll be okay.”

 

“Sorry, Shiro,” Keith said.

 

“Don’t be sorry, just live, damn it!” Shiro cried. He was an ugly mess, and he knew it. But all the other times someone had died, he’d been too late to do anything. There had been no fighting to keep them alive, no desperate attempts to convince them to keep fighting for their own life.

 

In reality, he knew Keith had given up on his own life a long time ago, before the whole mess with Voltron had even started. He’d never cared if he’d lived or died, he just simply _was_. Voltron had given him a reason to keep living, for a while, but losing the others…that had been the final break. And Keith might have kept going, for Shiro’s sake, but this was his escape, and Shiro knew it.

 

Shiro would be the same way in his position.

 

“See you…on the other side,” Keith said, letting his eyes drop closed one final time. “Take care…of yourself.”

 

“Only if you do the same!” Shiro cried, looking up and watching Keith take a few more shuddering breaths. “Keith! Keith _please!_ Don’t do this to me!”

 

The hand in his went limp, and Keith went still. Too still.

 

Shiro collapsed over Keith’s body and sobbed.

 

Xx

 

He didn’t fight to hold onto Keith’s body when Allura and Coran finally made it. It was too burned, too ruined…he didn’t want to remember Keith like that. He knew Coran would have a blanket over Keith’s preservation tube too when he put him in there.

 

The enemy soldier was found some time later, and it wasn’t hard to piece together what had happened. The knowledge that Keith had died trying to protect them all was bitter. Shiro didn’t care. He locked himself in Black’s cockpit after learning that and ignored any attempt from Allura and Coran to try and talk to him.

 

_He didn’t care_. Keith was gone. Hunk, Pidge, Lance…they were all gone. He’d lost his whole team in only six weeks.

 

God, it was only six weeks ago that they’d all been together. It felt like lifetimes had passed. How had things gone so wrong? How could they all have faced off against Zarkon and come out with minimal bruising, but then be killed in little more than accidents on random missions? It wasn’t fair. He should have been able to protect them. None of them should have died.

 

He dug the heels of his hands into his eyes again, trying to fight off more tears. How did he even have any left? Didn’t people run out of tears at some point? He’d read enough books where that happened. Was it better or worse that he hadn’t hit that point yet?

 

Black tried to be a comforting presence in his mind, but something was off. Some kind of wall had been built between them. He didn’t care to try and figure out why, right then.

 

At some point he drifted off into a light sleep, and when he woke up again he was empty, numb. The second he thought of anyone, tears spilled over his cheeks. They weren’t the heart-wrenching sobs from yesterday, just silent tears.

 

_We were supposed to save the universe_ , Shiro thought glumly. _Some heroes we were_.

 

Black purred, insuring him it wasn’t his fault, it was just the way things had to be.

 

“But why? Why did they all have to die? Why couldn’t I do _anything_ to save them?” He was building back up to sobs again.

 

_Because once one is killed, the others always follow_ , Black said. She sent a bunch of impressions and thoughts through his mind, startling Shiro long enough that the tears dried up for a while.

 

He didn’t really understand it. Something about replacements never making the team strong enough, needing to start over.

 

Shiro leaned back in his seat. He understood one thing, at least. “I’m next then, aren’t I?”

 

Of course he would technically be the next one to die, as he was the only one left. But his death was no longer some kind of far off thing that would happen in the future. It would be happening soon.

 

Black’s sorrowful agreement only numbed him more.

 

“Well, there’s no sense putting it off then, is there?” Shiro said. “With me out of the way, you can start a new team faster.”

 

Black didn’t respond.

 

Shiro had never thought he’d kill himself. He’d never had depression and never been one of those who thought that was their only option left. He’d never really understood those who had. And even now, he didn’t really want to die. He still wanted to return to earth, wanted to see his parents again and eat his mother’s cooking again.

 

But he didn’t ever want to set foot on earth again if none of the rest of his team could. A captain always went down with the ship. If none of them were making it out of this, then neither was he.

 

“How about one last spin, for old time’s sake?” Shiro said. He was oddly calm as he gripped the controls.

 

Black was somber as she opened the hanger doors and they launched.

 

Flying was something all five of them had loved. They’d never connected about it through words, but that passion had surged through their mental bond and helped unite them all.

 

“Shiro? Where are you going? What’s going on?” Coran asked.

 

Hmm. Shiro thought he’d muted that comm ages ago. Oh well. He muted it again and told Black to block any incoming transmissions. Right now, he didn’t want to focus on anything but the feeling of flying. Not just for him, for Lance and Pidge and Hunk and Keith.

 

This wasn’t just Shiro’s last flight. This was their last flight too.

 

“I really hope Keith was right, and there is some kind of space after life where they’re all waiting for me,” Shiro murmured. That was all he wanted now, was to be reunited with his team.

 

Black purred in his mind, some kind of comfort, Shiro supposed. His grip on their connection was slipping, so he wasn’t sure.

 

He took a few laps around the system, doing some fancy maneuvers in memory of Lance and Keith and the way they liked to fly. The castle was never too far away, following him like a parent chasing after their wayward child.

 

After his fifth lap, Black rumbled in his mind. If he was going to do it, he might as well just get it over with. There was no sense putting it off.

 

Shiro pulled her to a slow stop. “Yeah, you’re right.” He looked around the cockpit one last time, patting the arm of his chair like Black was actually some kind of cat. “Take care of those Galra, for us. And keep Allura and Coran safe, okay?”

 

Black readily agreed, as if Shiro didn’t even have to ask, she was going to do that anyway.

 

Shiro shut his eyes. “Okay. I’m ready.” He was still wearing his paladin suit from the meeting, so he’d be dead as soon as he left the cockpit. It wouldn’t take long at all, and that was all he could ask for. A quick and painless death.

 

His stomach lurched as Black ejected him, and the last sensations he ever felt were unbearable cold and crushing silence.

 

Xx

 

“When I said ‘See you on the other side,’ I didn’t mean this soon.” Keith was smiling down at him, offering a hand to help him up. Lance, Pidge and Hunk were crowded around as well, sad smiles on all their faces.

 

Shiro didn’t know why they were sad. This was the happiest he’d been in over six weeks.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone has some nice fluffy fics to recommend, I could use some fluff right about now. 
> 
> (Also, fun fact: my computer literally died on me right before I wrote Hunk's death scene. Even my computer didn't want me to hurt the poor sunshine child).


End file.
